J. Alvin Gardner
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Longtime baseball executive J. Alvin Gardner steered the Texas League through the tough times of the Depression and World War II to attendance records which still stand. His Texas League affiliation began in 1920 when he and his partners bought the Waco club and moved it to Wichita Falls. Gardner became sole owner of the franchise in 1925. His 1927 Texas League champion Wichita Falls Spudders won 102 games and then swept New Orleans in four games to win the Dixie Series. Gardner was President of the Texas League from 1930-1953. Under his guidance the Texas League developed into the dominant Class AA operation in the country, drawing a record of 1.6 million fans in 1946. Gardner was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.
